CHANDIGARH
Namdhari leader dies at 80: Maharaj Bir Singh, younger brother of Satguru Jagjit Singh, head of Namdhari sect, died at Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana on Saturday. He was 80. He will be cremated at Bhaini Sahib on Sunday. Maharaj, who lived at Jiwan Nagar in Sirsa, leaves behind his widow and two sons, Thakur Dalip Singh and Thakur Ude Singh. Thakur Ude Singh looks after the Namdhari hockey team.

HARYANA

CHANDIGARH
Held on graft charge: The Haryana Vigilance Bureau has caught red-handed, Sunita, working as an ANM in the primary health centre, Gadrana village near Sirsa, while allegedly accepting illegal gratification of Rs 700 from Ram Narain Singh of the same district. A case has been registered against her under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to a statement issued here on Friday.

SONEPAT
Eye donation: Naib Subedar Tara Chand Saini (retd) of Garhi Ujale Khan became the 159th eye donor of Gohana on Thursday. He was expired on Thursday after a massive heart attack in the PGIMS, Rohtak. Aahuti, an NGO, and the Mahatama Jyoti Rao Phoole Education and Social Society, Gohana, played an important role in convincing the family members of Saini for the donation of his eyes.

JAMMU
& KASHMIR

JAMMU
BBA counselling ends: The two-day counselling session for BBA concluded at the Zorawar Singh Auditorium, Jammu University (JU), here on Saturday. As many as 1,400 students had appeared in the entrance examination held on June 23. “Earlier, in the wake of the land row agitation, the counselling was put on hold”, director, Colleges Development Council, Meenakshi Kilam, said. Meenakshi said there was cutthroat competition for 330 seats across seven colleges which offered the discipline, including 3 government and 4 private colleges, across the Jammu province.

Blood donation camp: The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Jammu and Kashmir State Council, in collaboration with the Department of Transfusion and Medicine, Government Medical College and the AIDS Control Society held a blood donation camp at Samba on Saturday. As many as 50 volunteers donated blood. Kumkum Sharma, head of the department, supervised the camp. Sharma said the district annually received 34,000 units of blood against the requirement of 42,000 units.

Pak youth sent back: The BSF repatriated a Pakistani youth on Saturday, who had “inadvertently” walked over to the forward village of Budhwar in Arnia sector along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu district yesterday. Ahmed Chatta, 22, was handed over to the Pakistani Rangers at the forward post of Budhwar along the international border (IB) as “nothing incriminating was found from him”, police sources said. Chatta, son of Aftaab Chatta of Gujranwala in Pakistan, was arrested about 25 metres inside the IB. He was questioned but it appeared that he might have crossed the border inadvertently, sources said.I

SRINAGAR
Three jawans hurt: Three Army jawans were injured after their vehicle fell into a stream in Kupwara district on Saturday. Police sources said an Army vehicle of the 71 Field Raj Rifle fell into a stream near the traffic check post at Chowkibal after the driver lost control over the vehicle. Three jawans sustained injuries in the accident. The injured were admitted to the 92 Base Hospital here.

‘PSC will be strengthened’: Governor N.N. Vohra today said the state public service commission (PSC) would be strengthened and the selection process accelerated to prevent delay in filling up of vacancies. “The PSC is an autonomous body and its primary objective is to make selections in a fair and just manner. It will be strengthened and the selection process accelerated so that all vacant posts are filled up without delay”, Vohra said after laying the foundation stone of a PSC complex at Solina here. The complex, near the Old Silk Factory, has an estimate of Rs 18.52 crore. Of the three administrative blocks, the main one would be completed by June next year and the entire work will be finished by June 2010. PSC chairman Mohammad Shafi Pandit said the commission had taken up a series of measures to improve the pace of work.